Live Young

Most Western doctors and researchers describe the ageing of the human body as being similar to the ageing of man-made machines. The damage can be periodically repaired leading to an extension of the machine's functional lifetime, just as is routinely done with cars.  But what if we could postpone the effects of ageing before any damage occurred? 


Aerobic exercise has been shown to prevent memory loss, heart disease, diabetes, depression and obesity. Weight training stops our muscles from shrinking as we get older. But what about our internal organs? Because we can't see them, we tend to only think of them when something goes wrong with them. But it's the internal organs that govern the body. They are the key to living young and having excellent health.


There is only one way of exercising the internal organs and that is through the practice of Qigong and Qigong self-massage.  Qigong is quite literally exercise for the internal organs. Not only does it protect the internal organs, it stimulates them and gets rid of energy blockages  which could lead to illness. The immediate effect is an increase in energy. The long term effect is a slowing down of the ageing process of the body together with prevention of injury and disease.

The Qigong forms I teach in my book and DVDs are the original Buddhist forms from the Shaolin Temple of Zen in China. These are Zen forms and they are practiced with this in mind. There is no need to understand any complicated Qi theory or to concentrate on one particular part of the body. The only instruction is to concentrate on the movement and the breath. That is all. The wisdom of the body knows what to do.  If the mind is too full up with ideas and theory then the wisdom of the body can never manifest.  


The Instant Health self-massage plays a crucial part in exercising the internal organs. It works on many different levels. The bamboo brush works on the surface level, helping to detoxify the body by cleaning out the lymphatic system, softening the skin, removing blockages,  acting as a natural battery charger for the body, and making the Qigong more effective through helping to open the meridian channels.

I have a new improved bamboo brush available from my website, if your brush has Shaolin Temple in black Chinese writing written on the handle then you have this new brush. This new brush is a  stronger design than the last brush and should last for many years. Most people are happy to keep using the bamboo brush. But to go to a deeper level in our Qigong, we need to use a metal brush.

The metal brush is nearly 2kg and if looked after properly will last a lifetime. It took me many years to find someone who could make  this specialised equipment to my specific specifications. The weight, length and number of metal rods needs to be correct so it can work effectively. But how does it work?

Before washing machines were invented, the way to wash our clothes was to beat them against a rock. Some people still clean rugs this way, they hang them on the line and beat the dust out of them. The metal brush works in a similar way. Not only does it detoxify the body, and work on the internal organs like the bamboo brush but the vibrations from the brush go into the very marrow of our bone; cleansing and detoxifying it.  Why is it important to cleanse the bone marrow?

As we get older, the production of  red blood cells start to slow down. This is a major factor in the ageing process. I have no evidence for this but I believe that use of the metal brush, reinvigorates the marrow of our bone so that the production of red blood cells continue at a similar speed as when we were younger.  

Most people who do intensive exercise, for example professional footballers, age quite rapidly and burn out when their in their thirties. Shaolin monks and disciples do as much exercise but do not age or burnout in the same way. This is because we practice Qigong and Qigong self-massage.

I know that many Western people have massage from other people when they need something fixing like an injury or they feel stress or tired. There's nothing wrong with this kind of massage but self-massage aims to prevent the body getting run down, the aim is to prevent disease before it happens.

Many people associate The Shaolin Temple with body conditioning for combat but the temple have a long tradition of self-massage. Here in the West, I know some people find self -massage strange.  All I  can say is that if you haven't tasted coca cola, I can write volumes about the taste but you will never understand until you have actually tasted it for yourself. Self-massage is a vital key to keep your body balanced, healthy and well. Try it and you will see.

Good health not only benefits ourselves but also our family and the rest of society.  It's easy to forget the importance of health when we are healthy. It's only when it's taken away from us do we realise that without we cannot have a rich and fulfilled life without it. So appreciate your health and invest in it by practicing Qigong and Qigong massage for a long and healthy life. 

Want to learn Qigong?  Click here. 
For more information on the massage brushes click here

SHAOLIN TEMPLE FIGHTING SKILLS - PART TWO

INVEST IN YOURSELF

At the Shaolin Temple, we get up every morning at five-thirty, and go for a run up the mountain. This is like putting money into a saving’s account. If we do not have the stamina then we will not be able to practice the skill. When we come back from the mountain, we practice five basic stances, five basic kicks and stretching.

Learning martial arts is no different from learning maths or English, if we cannot add two plus two then we cannot progress to algebra, if we cannot read the alphabet then we can never read Shakespeare. This is the reason we study these very basic skills. Only when our body is getting stronger do we then start to learn some internal and external forms, and only when our master feels we are ready do we progress to studying fighting punches and kicks and then start to fight in the ring.

THE IMPORTANCE OF QI

We also practice body conditioning. I specialise in Shaolin Steel Jacket. The reason I specialise in Shaolin Steel Jacket is because I am small – not much taller than 5ft 6 – so when I fight, I have to go into my opponent, and they are nearly always taller and heavier than me, which - without my body conditioning skill - would give them an advantage over me.

 I know it is difficult for many Western people to believe in Qi. Science still has not found a way to prove or disprove it. Excluding the Western understanding of the bodies anatomical system such as the nervous and respiratory system, within the human body there are a network of pathways which we call meridians, they carry Qi through out the body. They are like small rivers which when the body becomes stressed or ill become blocked. The Chinese believe in preventing illness rather than waiting for it to happen so we practice Qi Gong to keep a healthy flow of Qi running through our bodies. Sometimes I think we look after our cars, better than we look after ourselves. We don’t wait for it to break down before we give it gasoline, water, oil, or take it to the garage for a check up, so why do so many of us do that with our bodies?

BODY CONDITIONING

If we only want to keep healthy, then we will continue to practice healthy forms of Qi Gong all our lives, but if we want to be fighters then we learn to master the Qi and direct it into different parts of our body. The analogy I use is to compare it with the wheels on a car, they are useless without Qi – air – but by pumping simple air into its tyres the car is transformed from a vehicle with a powerful engine that can go nowhere to a vehicle with a powerful engine that can go everywhere.

Body conditioning gives us the confidence to come up against our opponent even if he looks bigger or stronger than us. With the Shaolin Steel jacket technique I put my Qi into my back and my torso and then I am confident that I will be protected from blows. My back and torso is like steel. It is my armour.

PLANTING THE FIGHTING SEED

All of this training is the planting of the seed. You plant an apple seed you get an apple tree. We plant a fighter’s seed, this means we set our motivation; we want to become an excellent fighter. We train hard - this is the cultivation - and then, after years of training, we start to become the fighter we always wanted to be.

THE FIRST FIGHT

But usually when we first go to fight, we are disappointed in ourselves. Training and fighting are very different. We may be good at training but that doesn’t make us good fighters. As Bruce Lee said, if you can’t hit your target, then what does it mean? And in the beginning, you may find it hard to hit this target who is no longer a pad, a bag or a fellow sparring partner but a determined fighter who wants to win as much as you

Nothing can prepare you for your first fight. But if you have trained consistently then you will know you are strong. You know you did everything to be the best. Doesn’t mean you will win but you will have the confidence to win. If you don’t have confidence then you can never win.

ARE THE SHAOLIN FIGHTING SKILLS FOR YOU

We all want to win. It feels good. But we must remember it is just a stopping point on the way, it is not our ultimate destination. And the Shaolin fighting skills are not a dream, and they are not a film, they are a life. So ask yourself, do you love the Shaolin Martial Arts? If you do then you must continue to train. Through hard training you will begin to understand that you are much more than you thought, through Qi Gong you will have health and energy, through meditation you will develop control over your mind. You will ultimately win the war over your ego. This is the highest martial arts of all, and one, which may take you many lifetimes to achieve.

Shifu Yan Lei offers a graded path of Shaolin Training for health, martial art, self-defence and fighting. For more details visit: 

www.shifuyanlei.co.uk

 http://www.shifuyanlei.co.uk/dvd_latest_release.htmlhttp://www.shifuyanlei.co.uk/dvd_latest_release.html

How To Make Your Body Become Its Own Doctor

“Bodhidharma travelled to the East to teach these two Yi Jin and Xi Sui classics. A bird like the crane is able to live long, an animal like the fox can be immortal, a human who cannot learn from these classics is worse than the birds and animals.”

 The Mind and Body of a Buddha

 Ee Jin Jing makes your muscles and tendons strong, flexible, fast and powerful while building up the health of your internal organs. Xi means wash and Sui means bone marrow.  Xi Sui  means clean your bone marrow. The aim of Xi Sui Gong is to detoxify the body and cleanse the unhealthy aspects of the mind. The highest aim is to help us reach enlightenment and give us the mind and body of a Buddha. But even if we can’t gain enlightenment in this lifetime, the least this Qigong can do is give us a long, healthy, and peaceful life.

 Connecting With Our True Nature 

 It is vitally important that we use our heart to train, not just our body. We can train as regularly and as hard as we like but if our heart isn’t present then we will never improve our skill or get the benefit from Qigong or Kung Fu. Whether it’s Shaolin, Karate or Taekwondo, the aim of any martial arts is to awaken us to our true nature. Our true nature can only be found in the here and now. Our martial art helps  to plant us in the present moment. This can sometimes be uncomfortable because it confronts us with who we truly are. But once we’ve broken through our smaller self, Qigong helps us to go beyond our small individual selves and find a connection with the very fabric of the Universe. It does not give us anything new; it simply connects us with the body’s internal power and automatic wisdom that already exists within us.

 If we train mindlessly then we may as will join a gym and watch TV while listening to music and running on the treadmill. There’s nothing wrong with that kind of training if all you want from your workout is to get fit but it’s certainly not the type of training which will increase our martial arts skill and power.

 The Power of Concentration

 The more we can concentrate, the more benefit we can gain from Qigong. Every movement of Xi Sui Jing is done from a sitting position, this sitting position helps us to develop patience. When you begin to run through the movements, your mind will be busy at first. This is natural. But as you focus on the breath and the movement together this will calm the mind and you will begin to feel peaceful. This calming of the mind cleanses the mind. With a clean mind, the mind and body can then begin to work in harmony. Once the mind and body are working in harmony, the body can start to self-regulate itself, unblocking the channels and preventing disease from building up in the body.

Our Body Is Our Own Doctor

 This is why we say that our body is our own doctor, the Qigong gives us access to the medicine. But this all happens unconsciously. Our body will start to feel better of its own accord without us having to intervene in any way. This has led many people to shun conventional medicine in favor of Qigong or other alternative medicines but I believe we should use the best of both worlds. If a person is suffering from an illness I recommend that they combine  Western medicine with Qigong so that it’s not an alternative approach but more of a complimentary approach.

The Challenge

 There is a famous story in China about a Ch’an master who was famous for his meditation and a Shaolin martial artist who was famous for his martial arts. One day the Shaolin master challenged the Ch’an master as he believed his skill was much better than that of the Ch’an master. The Ch’an master chose a narrow ledge at the edge of a high mountain, one wrong step and the person would fall to their death. Because they were both unskilled in archery they decided it would be fair if they challenged themselves in this way. The Shaolin master went first, he stood at the edge of the mountain but when he placed the arrow into the bow he couldn’t stop himself from looking down and he became scared at the thought of plunging to his death. This fear meant that he failed to hit the target. The Ch’an master took the bow and arrow, stood at the edge of the mountain, and hit the target perfectly. The Shaolin master was amazed and asked him what his secret was so that he could improve his skill. The Ch’an master said, “No thinking. No reason. Just do.”

No thinking. No reason. Just do.

 This is exactly what we must apply to our practice. EE Jin Jing makes our body like stone. Xi Sui Jing turns our body into a Buddha. But we need to practice and find this out for ourselves.

 Qi Lifting

 Higher level students learn Qi lifting which mixes internal and external together. They practice Qi and at the same time they use Qi. This kind of Qigong can only be transmitted master to student. This takes karma and the student needs to be ready. Powerful businessmen learn this Qigong from me because they know that the health of their mind and body is the most important thing. But this higher level can never be reached without first learning the authentic Shaolin forms that I teach on my Qigong DVDs. Without learning these forms we can never reach the higher levels.

The Way Of Qigong Volume 2

Shaolin Xi Sui Jing Qi Gong is taught on The Way Of Qi Gong Volume Two.